00:00Well, May does bring warmer weather and some great stargazing in the night sky.
00:03Professor Chris Palma of Penn State University joins us again for this month's astronomy event.
00:08Thanks so much for being with us.
00:10Sure, thank you.
00:11All right, we'll start with a meteor shower.
00:13What makes the Ada Aquarian event stand out?
00:16What could we see and when is the best time to watch?
00:20Yeah, I think one thing that makes it stand out is Earth is really passing through Halley's comet debris.
00:27So that's kind of a fun reason for this meteor shower.
00:31It's for morning observers.
00:33So you would want to be up, you know, 4 a.m., 5 a.m.
00:36You're going to see shooting stars near the horizon rather than up high in the sky.
00:41But the mornings of May 5th and May 6th would be the best time to look for these shooting stars.
00:47That's perfect timing for you and I.
00:49We're up.
00:50Step out.
00:51All right.
00:51Now, we also have the flower moon.
00:55That's May's full moon.
00:57Why is it called that and what makes this full moon so special?
01:03Yeah, the names for moons like that really come from lots of different cultures.
01:09I've heard different Native American groups call it the flower moon, although some have other names.
01:14Different European cultural groups call it the flower moon.
01:17But it's really because the moon has always been associated with agriculture.
01:22When should we plant?
01:23When should we harvest?
01:24And this full moon every year happens around the time all the wildflowers are in bloom.
01:29I usually tell everybody the best thing about the full moon, just get outside and look at it.
01:34If you want to up your level of difficulty, try and identify different features.
01:38But it's our monthly full moon, and it should look just as spectacular as ever.
01:44I've got to get out my telescope.
01:45Got to.
01:46All right.
01:46The moon will line up with Venus and Saturn later in the month.
01:50How rare is this alignment, and when can we expect it to happen?
01:53Yeah, so this is closer to the end of the month, so around May 22nd and 23rd.
02:00It's another early morning thing, perfect for both of you.
02:04I always like to say, think of the moon and the planets like runners on a track, with the
02:10moon being the fast runner and the planets being the slower joggers.
02:14So every month, the moon will catch up with the planets and lap them.
02:18So an individual alignment is pretty common, but an alignment with two different planets,
02:24Venus and Saturn at the same time, is a little more rare.
02:28But this isn't the most rare astronomical event.
02:30But it's definitely eye-catching because of how bright the moon and Venus are both.
02:35All right.
02:36More about Venus.
02:36At the end of May, Venus reaches greatest western elongation.
02:41What in the world does that mean?
02:43Yeah.
02:44So we sometimes call Venus the evening star or the morning star.
02:49It's the brightest object that you can see.
02:52But we look for it either right before sunset or right, sorry, yeah, right before sunset,
02:59right before sunrise.
03:00So greatest elongation means it'll be actually in the highest position you will see it in
03:05the sky for the year.
03:07So it'll be visible for more hours.
03:11It'll be brighter.
03:12If you look at it through a telescope, you'll see a different phase.
03:15So lots of great observing of Venus, but it just means that it'll be highest in the sky
03:20at that time of the year.
03:22Professor Chris Palma of Penn State University, thanks for joining us again.
03:26And you know what I'm going to say to the professor?
03:29We are.
03:29We are.
03:31Penn State.
03:32You betcha we are.
03:34It's a great way to join us.
03:37We are.
03:40See you guys.
03:40Mm-hmm.
03:42Thanks.
03:44Nice.
03:44ej2-
03:45You.
03:47You.
03:47Right.
03:48Thanks for joining us.
03:49Matt.
03:49Thanks for joining us.
03:50Against us.
03:52This is very important.
03:53Thanks for joining us.
03:53Thanks for joining us.
03:54Thanks for joining us.
03:55Thanks for joining us.
03:57Bye.
03:58Bye.
03:59Bye.
03:59Bye.
04:00Bye.
04:00Bye.
04:01Bye.
04:01Bye.
04:02Bye.
04:02Bye.
04:03Bye.
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